Dispensing pen incorporating a dome spring element

ABSTRACT

A dome spring element including a body having a first and second end and an axis, a bell-shaped wall at the first end defining a chamber with an opening into the chamber, a cylindrical wall attached to the bell-shaped wall at the second end; a rod attached to the body and extending through the chamber and extending axially outwardly from the opening; and the body being moveable from an extended position to a compressed position by application of a force along the axis, and capable of automatically returning to the extended position upon release of the force.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a dome spring for sealing a liquid flowpath of a liquid discharging outlet in an uncompressed state and openinga liquid flow path in a compressed state, and more specifically to arubber or plastic dome spring having a dome-shaped deformable springsection and a cylindrically-shaped upper stem portion for creating andremoving a liquid-seal with a cylindrically-shaped outer valve housing,a liquid discharging outlet incorporating such a dome spring, and adispensing pen incorporating such a dome spring.

2. Description of the Related Art

A portable stain remover for application to fresh stains or prior tolaundering has become a common accessory used for preventing thepermanent inset of serious stains during, for example, lunches or coffeebreaks away from the home. These and other liquid discharging devices,such as bag-in-box concentrated liquid dispensers and error correctionpens, commonly use a spring-loaded valve for tensioning a valve to aclosed position to prevent the dispensing of a liquid stored in a liquidstorage portion of the device.

The use of a metal valve spring within the liquid dispenser, however,has several disadvantages. First, it is more expensive to manufactureand second, it is difficult to maintain quality control of manufacture.Specifically, a metal spring component and supporting structures areexpensive to manufacture and adjoin, and the prevalence of errors inproduction increases relative to the increase in the number of partsinvolved in the manufacture of the device. Second, a device containing ametal spring is not capable of being recycled using standard polymericrecycling techniques.

The present invention overcomes the shortcomings and deficiencies of theprior art and is directed to systems and methods which eliminate or atleast substantially reduce the impact of these problems associated withexisting spring mechanisms and liquid dispensers. A full discussion ofthe features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to thefollowing detailed description, which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A dome spring element including a body having a first and second end andan axis, a bell-shaped wall at the first end defining a chamber with anopening into the chamber, a cylindrical wall attached to the bell-shapedwall at the second end; a rod attached to the body and extending throughthe chamber and extending axially outwardly from the opening; and thebody being moveable from an extended position to a compressed positionby application of a force along the axis, and capable of automaticallyreturning to the extended position upon release of the force

A liquid dispensing container including a housing wall defining a firstchamber having an axis, a first end section and an opposed second endsection, and a dome spring element positioned within the first chamber.The dome spring element has a body having a first and second end and anaxis. A bell-shaped wall at the first end defines a second chamber withan opening into the second chamber. A cylindrical wall is at the secondend of the body and is attached to the bell-shaped wall. A rod isattached to the body and extends through the second chamber and axiallyoutwardly from the opening. The body being moveable by an axiallyinwardly directed force applied to the second end from an extendedposition wherein the second end forms a fluid tight seal with an innersurface of the housing wall, to a compressed position where fluid canflow through the first chamber, and the body capable of automaticallyreturning to the extended position upon release of the inwardly axiallydirected force.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an assembled liquid-discharge valveand applicator tip including a dome spring element in a closed position;

FIG. 2 is a side view in partial cross section of an assembledliquid-discharging pen;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a valve seat;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a dome spring element;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a dome spring element;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a dispensing nib;

FIG. 7 is an end view of a dispensing nib;

FIG. 8 is an exploded-view of a liquid-discharging pen; and

FIG. 9 is an exploded-view of an alternate embodiment of aliquid-discharging pen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While various embodiments of the present invention are discussed indetail below, it should be appreciated that the present inventionprovides inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety ofspecific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merelyillustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do notlimit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a liquid dispensing member 10 for a liquid container 12(FIG. 2) having a housing 14, a dome spring element 16, a spring seat17, a dispensing nib 18 and an O-ring seal 19. FIG. 1 shows thedispensing member 10 in a closed position. The dome spring can be movedfrom an extended position or closed (FIG. 1) to a compressed ordispensing position by application of a force along an axis of the domespring, and capable of automatically, without the assistance of anotherenergy source, of returning to the extended position when thecompressing force is sufficiently removed or reduced.

The housing 14 has a first end section 20, an opposed second end section22 and an intermediate portion 24 therebetween. The first end section 20has a generally cylindrical wall 26 having a first diameter and aradially inwardly tapering, reduced diameter portion 28 at a proximalend. The intermediate portion 24 of the housing has an annular flange 30having a second diameter greater than the first diameter and defining ashoulder 32 where the flange 30 meets a distal end of the first endsection 20. The second end section 22 extends axially away from theflange 30 and is divided into three distinct segments 22 a,b,c. Eachsection has proximal and distal ends wherein the diameter of theproximal end is greater than that of the distal end.

The cylindrical wall 26 and reduced diameter portion 28 are dimensionedto be inserted into a lumen of the container 12 and attached thereto.The flange 30 acts as a stop that determines the full-insertion positioninto the container 12. It is also contemplated the housing 14 could bedimensioned to fit over an end portion of the container 12 and form aninterference fit therewith or be attached by other means.

The housing 14 defines a chamber 40 that extends the full lengthdimension of the housing and has opposed first and second openings 42and 44 into the chamber 40. In the first end section 20 has an innerwall 46 having a first inner diameter and a second inner diametersmaller than the first inner diameter and a shoulder 48 therebetween. Ina preferred form of the invention, the inner wall in the first sectionhas a plurality of axially extending, and circumferentially spacedgrooves 49 to provide pathways for fluid flow around the dome spring tothe discharge opening.

The valve seat 17 is fixedly mounted within the first end section 20 andabuts against a portion of the dome spring 16. The dome spring 16 whenin the extended position shown in FIG. 1, extends between the first endsection 20 and terminates at segment 22 b. The nib 18 is mounted withina portion of the dome spring 16 and extends from segment 22 a to a pointoutside of the housing.

FIG. 3 shows the valve seat 17 having a first outer cylindrical wall 50,a pair of circumferentially spaced docking ears 52, an inner ring 54connected to the docking ears 52 by a pair of axially extending andcircumferentially spaced spokes 56. The docking ears 52 extend axiallyoutwardly from the first outer cylindrical wall 50 and are dimensionedto attach to the inner wall 46 of the housing 14 and to provide spacebetween the inner wall and the first outer cylindrical wall 50 for easeof assembly. The docking ears 52 can be attached to the inner wall by asnap fit connection, friction fit, by adhesives, solvent bondingtechniques, welding techniques including conductive and inductiveheating and vibrational welding or other suitable method well known toone of ordinary skill in the art. The inner ring 54 has a centrallydisposed through hole 58 which is dimensioned and positioned to act as aguide for the rod 72 of the dome spring element 16.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the dome spring element 16 having a first end portion60 and an opposed second end portion 62 and an intermediate portion 64therebetween. The first end portion 60 has a generally dome-shaped wall66 having an opening 68 into a chamber 70. Coaxially disposed within thechamber is a segmented rod 72 having a first diameter 74 at a proximalend, a second diameter portion 76 and a shoulder 78 definedtherebetween. The rod 72 terminates in an radially inwardly taperingportion 80 at its distal most end. The wall 66 has a gradient ofthicknesses from a first end 82 to a second end 84 with the thickness ofthe wall increasing from the first end 82 to the second end 84. Whilethe rod is shown having two distinct diameters it is contemplated therod could increase in thickness gradually to achieve the desired springforce constant.

The second end portion 62 is connected to the first end portion by agenerally cylindrical wall 88. The second end portion 62 has a generallycylindrically shaped outer wall 100 having a first end 102 and a secondend 104. The outer wall 100 defines an inner chamber 106 with an opening108 to the chamber. The chamber 108 is dimensioned to receive an endportion of the nib 18. The second end 104 of the wall has an enlargeddiameter portion having a rounded outer surface 110. The second end 104forms a fluid tight seal with a surface of the inner wall of the housingwhen in the closed position as shown in FIG. 1.

In a preferred form of the invention, the dome spring element 16 can befabricated from a material having elastomeric properties that can bedeformed under pressure and resume its undeformed state when thepressure is removed. Suitable materials for forming the spring element16, for example, can include natural and synthetic rubber materials, andpolymeric material such as polyolefins, thermoplastic elastomers,polyamides, polyesters, polyethers, polyetheramides, styrene andhydrocarbon copolymers, styrene and hydrocarbon block copolymers,silicone and other material suitable for its purpose. In a mostpreferred form of the invention, the dome spring element will be madefrom thermoplastic elastomers or silicone.

FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7 show the dispensing nib 18 is diametricallysegmented having a decreased diameter portion 110 that is dimensioned tofit within the chamber 106 and a larger diameter portion 112 extendingaxially therefrom. The distal most end 114 of the dispensing nib will beshaped to apply a liquid dispensed from the container 12 and can take onmany different shapes and sizes for this purpose. In a preferred form ofthe invention, the distal end of the nib will have a radially inwardlytapering section 116 and will terminate in a generally rectangularshaped outer surface 118. The tapering section 116 is shown having asemicircular shaped surface for spreading the liquid being dispensedonto a surface. However, the semicircular shape is optional and could bereplaced with surfaces of differing shapes and surface textures, such asmatte or dimpled. The dispensing nib 18 also is shown with an optionalaxially inwardly tapering surface 120.

The dispensing nib 18 can be formed integrally with the dome springelement 16 as shown in FIG. 8 or separately as shown in FIG. 9.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the container 12 having a generally cylindricalshaped sidewall 130 with one open end 132 for containing a flowablematerial and more preferably a liquid material. The liquid material canbe applied to any surface in need of treatment and includes fabrics,hard surfaces, soft surfaces, synthetic materials, natural materials,surfaces on animals and plants to name a few exemplary surfaces. In apreferred form of the invention the material will be used to apply to afabric and more preferably will be a liquid for applying to a fabric andwill contain one or more of the following components a cleaningsolution, stain removal solution, stain masking solution, anti-staticagent, water proofing agent, anti-bacterial agent, paint, stain, topicalointment and anti-viral agent. The cleaning or stain removal solutioncan contain chemicals including bleach, surfactants, solvents, enzymaticagents, ammonia, emulsifiers, anti-static agents, water, deionizedwater, demineralized water, hydrogen peroxide, alcohols, ketones,aldehydes, ethers, acrylonitriles, aromatic hydrocarbons, compoundscontaining aryl, aryl halide and/or aryloxy groups, ethoxylatedalcohols, ionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, alkyl phenols, alkylsulfates, amine oxides, and mixtures thereof. Suitable cleaningsolutions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,832,867; 3,748,268;4,273,661; 5,284,597; 5,324,131; 5,728,669; 5,872,090; and 6,644,879each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference andmade a part hereof.

The dispensing member 10 can be used as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG.1 the second end 104 of the dome spring element 16 is pressed againstthe inner wall to form a fluid tight seal. To move the dispensing member10 from the closed to the open position, sufficient axially inwardlydirected force must be applied in the direction of arrow 134 to causethe nib to move axially inwardly and compress the dome spring 16 againstthe valve seat 17. The bell-shaped wall 66 deforms and the second end110 pulls away from the inner wall of the housing 14 to allow fluid toflow through the chamber 40 and through a space 136 between the innerwall of the housing and an outer surface of the nib 18. Upon releasingthe axially inwardly directed force, the dome spring 16 applies anaxially outwardly directed force to the dispensing nib 18 to return thedispensing member 10 to the closed position (FIG. 1).

The invention has now been explained with regard to specificembodiments. Variations on these embodiments and other embodiments maybe apparent to those of skill in the art. It is understood that theexamples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposesonly and that various modifications or change in light thereof will besuggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included withinthe spirit and purview of this application and the appended claims.Since the present embodiments are in all respects merely illustrative,and not restrictive, the present invention is not to be limited to thedetails given herein.

1. A dome spring element comprising: a body having a first and second end and an axis, a bell-shaped wall at the first end defining a chamber with an opening into the chamber, a cylindrical wall attached to the bell-shaped wall at the second end; a rod attached to the body and extending through the chamber and extending axially outwardly from the opening; and the body being moveable from an extended position to a compressed position by application of a force along the axis, and capable of automatically returning to the extended position upon release of the force.
 2. The dome spring element of claim 1, wherein the bell-shaped wall has a varying thickness along its length.
 3. The dome spring element of claim 2 wherein a thickness dimension of the bell-shaped wall proximate the opening is greater than a thickness dimension of the wall on an opposite end of the bell shaped wall.
 4. The dome spring element of claim 1 wherein the rod is segmented into a first diameter section and a second diameter section wherein the first diameter section has a diameter greater than a diameter of the second diameter section.
 5. The dome spring of claim 4 wherein the rod has a radially inwardly directed taper at a distal most end of the rod.
 6. The dome spring element of claim 1 wherein the cylindrical wall has an enlarged diameter portion at a distal most end of the cylindrical wall.
 7. The dome spring element of claim 6 wherein the enlarged diameter portion has a curved outer profile.
 8. The dome spring element of claim 1 wherein the cylindrical wall defines a chamber dimensioned to receive a body.
 9. The dome spring element of claim 8 wherein the body is a dispensing nib.
 10. The dome spring element of claim 1 further comprising a dispensing nib connected to the body and extending axially outward from the second end in a direction opposite of the rod.
 11. A liquid dispensing container comprising: a housing wall defining a first chamber having an axis, a first end section and an opposed second end section; and a dome spring element in the first chamber having a body having a first and second end and an axis, a bell-shaped wall at the first end defining a second chamber with an opening into the second chamber, a cylindrical wall attached to the bell-shaped wall at the second end, a rod attached to the body and extending through the second chamber and extending axially outwardly from the opening, and the body being moveable by an axially inwardly directed force applied to the second end from an extended position wherein the second end forms a fluid tight seal with an inner surface of the housing wall, to a compressed position where fluid can flow through the first chamber, and the body capable of automatically returning to the extended position upon release of the inwardly axially directed force.
 12. The container of claim 11, wherein the bell-shaped wall has a varying thickness along its length.
 13. The container of claim 12 wherein a thickness dimension of the bell-shaped wall proximate the opening is greater than a thickness dimension of the wall on an opposite end of the bell shaped wall.
 14. The container of claim 11 wherein the rod is segmented into a first diameter section and a second diameter section wherein the first diameter section has a diameter greater than a diameter of the second diameter section.
 15. The dome spring of claim 14 wherein the rod has a radially inwardly directed taper at a distal most end of the rod.
 16. The container of claim 11 wherein the cylindrical wall has an enlarged diameter portion at a distal most end of the cylindrical wall.
 17. The container of claim 16 wherein the enlarged diameter portion has a curved outer profile.
 18. The container of claim 11 wherein the cylindrical wall defines a third chamber dimensioned to receive a body.
 19. The container of claim 18 further comprising a dispensing nib having a first end and an opposed second end, the first end being positioned within the third chamber.
 20. The container of claim 19 wherein the second end of the dispensing nib extends axially outwardly beyond the second end section. 